Prodrive Racing (Australia)’s Chaz Mostert has completed his first ever Bathurst 1000 top 10 shootout in style, qualifying third for tomorrow’s Great Race. Despite putting a rear tyre off the track in the final sector and losing two-tenths on his lap, Mostert is thrilled with his car’s performance with 161 laps still to come. Mark Winterbottom will start from 10th place after today’s shootout where a mistake at The Chase put him two seconds off the top nine cars. Both Winterbottom and co-driver Dean Canto believe there is more to come from The Bottle-O Ford to achieve the perfect race car.
Monster Energy racer Cameron Waters made significant gains in this morning’s practice session, finishing sixth in the times as both Winterbottom and Mostert completed a shootout simulation run. Waters and co-driver Jack Le Brocq are confident they will get the most out of the car which they expect to be able to match the series front-runners. Super Black Racing’s Chris Pither and Richie Stanaway both took part in their final practice session ahead of tomorrow’s 161 lap race as they look to make further changes to the car. Stanaway completed majority of the laps in practice as he prepares for his official Bathurst 1000 debut tomorrow.
DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom & Dean Canto – #1 The Bottle-O PRA Ford:
Top Ten Shootout: 10th
“The Chase has been a bit of a trouble spot for me this weekend. We made a slight change going into the shootout and you only have one lap to see if it’s fixed it or not so you try and go in and yeah, just grabbed the front tyre. I had a crack but tomorrow’s a long day. We still need to tune it up at The Chase, it’s not where it wants to be at that part of the track. Our big strength is Dean. He’s doing an awesome job. We’ll just keep trying to find it and tune it up; even throughout the day we’ll keep trying to tune it.”
Dean Canto – #1 The Bottle-O PRA Ford:
Top Ten Shootout: 10th
“If it opens up our strategy, I might start the race. Last year I started the race from pole, the year before I started from second or third last so it’s up to the boys what they decide. It’s one of those things starting the co-driver, I think only three or four teams did it last year but it does open up your strategy later in the race. At the moment we still have a few little things we need to tune up with the car. Obviously watching Chaz’s lap his car is quite hooked up but we’ll try and take a few things from their car onto ours.”
Cameron Waters – #6 Monster Energy PRA Ford:
Qualifying: 13th
“I am pretty happy going into the race. We worked on our race set-up this morning and the car is a lot easier to drive which is what you want. There are a few things to tweak but we don’t need much to turn it into a good race car. Jack and I are good with everything and now just keen to get into the race and see what we can do.”
Jack Le Brocq – #6 Monster Energy PRA Ford:
Qualifying: 13th
“Cam and I were on the same tyre this morning and had similar pace which was encouraging. There’s things we need to fix up but they are only little, so I think we are both quietly confident and can’t wait to see what the race brings.”
Chaz Mostert – #55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford:
Top Ten Shootout: 3rd
“It was unbelievable to have the whole track to myself in the shootout – to not need to look in the mirrors and think about what other cars are doing was a cool experience. I am very excited to be top-three on the grid and I think if my last sector was cleaner we would’ve been very close to pole. It was close but I am happy to be starting on the second row so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Steve Owen – #55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford:
Top Ten Shootout: 3rd
“Chaz’s lap looked really good and we can’t complain with where we are starting the race tomorrow. He’s comfortable with the car, I’m comfortable with the car, so we’re off to a good start and we’ve been happy with how our Bathurst has gone so far. We have no championship pressure, we are here to win the race and we are going to be doing everything we can to do that so I am excited.”
Chris Pither – #111 Super Black PRA Ford:
Qualifying: 12th
“I am looking forward to the race and happy to be starting 12th. In final practice we used it as an opportunity to do a systems check and practice pit stops, high fuel loads and cold tyres. I think we are in pretty good shape for tomorrow and I am looking forward to it.”
Richie Stanaway – #111 Super Black PRA Ford:
Qualifying: 12th
“We’ve had a fairly solid run throughout practice. Chris and I are fairly comfortable in the car and we’re not starting from a bad spot. It is going to be pretty cool to be racing my first Bathurst, though I just want to get stuck into it and have a good result.”
Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
“There were some little mistakes in the shootout that put us back slightly but at the end of the day, tomorrow’s race is a long one and the main thing that you want is to be there at the end. Chaz and Frosty both had quite good laps aside from those little mistakes, Chaz in particular. We have four fast cars so I think we’re in a good position. It doesn’t matter so much where you start but a good qualifying position puts you in a good place to stay out of trouble.”
DUNLOP SERIES
Prodrive Racing Australia’s Garry Jacobson has finished second in the Dunlop Series main event at the Bathurst 1000 after starting from pole position. Jacobson completed two pit stops in the 41 lap race compared to the one for team-mate Jack Le Brocq. After a slow start, both drivers made their way up to second and third positions before Jacobson elected to pit early for fuel. Another pit stop shortly after under safety car saw him meet the minimum fuel requirement, while also bolting on two tyres. While Jacobson’s stop gave Le Brocq the race lead, the GoGetta racer would have also chosen to pit under safety car if he did not have to double stack. The car six team elected to pit late, Le Brocq re-joined just outside of the top ten before making his way up to sixth at the finish. Jacobson sat outside the top three with just a few laps to go but was able to push up to second, extending his championship lead to 151 points.
Jack Le Brocq – #5 GoGetta Racing PRA Ford:
Race: 6th
“We rolled the dice under the safety car and we could’ve double-stacked behind (team-mate) Garry (Jacobson) but we chose not to. It put us back in the pack and we ended up with the fastest car but kept getting caught behind other cars. The result wasn’t ideal for our championship situation, though Homebush is a tough track so anything can happen.”
Garry Jacobson – #6 Challenger Valve PRA Ford:
Race: 2nd
“I got a lot of support from the crew today and coached me through the day. As it is the only round where we do pit stops, and after which we go back out on cold tyres and it’s also the longest race of the year so it is all new to me in the Ford FG X. We had a wonderful car in qualifying and to score pole was a massive achievement – I am really proud of that. I think it was a really good team effort. For the Homebush finale I need to minimise mistakes, be calm in the car and collect points. If I am at the front I am not going to give it away. We’ve qualified on pole for the last two rounds and have a good set-up direction, so bring on Homebush.”
DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Shane van Gisbergen – Triple Eight: 2248
2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 2241
3) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 2091
4) Scott McLaughlin – Garry Rogers Motorsport: 1989
5) Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing: 1908
7) Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing: 1757
18) Chris Pither– Super Black Racing: 1033
20) Cameron Waters – Prodrive Racing: 993
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Triple Eight: 4499
2) HRT: 3226
3) GRM: 2991
5) Prodrive Racing Australia: 2926
